Savory Recipes

Our entire family is vegetarian except for little Aria and me so Meatless Monday isn't something out of the ordinary in our household. It’s part of an effort on my part to eat a little bit healthier by reducing our meat consumption. If we can hit two targets with one bullet, I want to go for it. And since I'm keeping a strict vegetarian diet this week with the beginning of the Vietnamese Tết celebrations (a tradition of Tết is that you eat vegetarian (ăn chay) on the last day of the previous year and first day of Asian New Year), it's perfect timing for this..

I prepared roasted butternut squash and mixed in cooked radiatore pasta. It's super easy to prepare and if you want to be on the healthier side, you can completely omit the cheese from the sauce.

I recently hosted a dinner party and was looking for a gourmet side dish for filet mignon. I selected a savory tart filled with a combination of wild mushrooms such as fresh morels, beech, maitake, Hegehogs and brown crimini mushrooms.

Playing with such ingredients is a great way to take your guests on a great gastronomical adventure. Plus, preparing this dish is fairly basic and simple. I used pastry dough that I baked first and then filled with the mushrooms. They're rich in umami, which is the savory flavor quality that sort of mimics what we get from meat. The savory tarts ended up being the perfect pairing for the gourmet meat.

My childhood in France was punctuated with much fun, joy and delicious pleasures. I especially loved January, because it's the time of the year when Epiphany is celebrated with la galette des Rois, or king's cake. For those who don't know, epiphany is a Christian holiday that celebrates the Magi visiting baby Jesus. January 6th is the official day of Epiphany, but in France, we usually celebrate it on the Sunday between the 2nd and the 8th.

I just stocked up my kitchen with almond flour for the delicious occasion, so little Aria gets to experience the same delights. I know I'm going to have a lot of leftover almond flour, so I went through all the recipes creatively utilizing the special ingredient for you to see.

Almond flour is also a great alternative for gluten-free cooking. My mother-in-law discovered later in life that she has celiac disease, and almond is a great substitute in recipes. My tip for a longer shelf life is to store almond flour in the freezer. And not only does it make delicious desserts, almondflour is a great thickener for savory sauces. Isn't that sweet?

Thanksgiving festivities are right around the corner, so it's time to play with fall flavors. Today, I wanted to prepare a savory tart using butternut squash and finally decided to prepare individual portions because they would look even cuter and be easier to eat.

I made a regular butter crust, but I flavored it with green onions and sweet basil. I filled the mini tarts with creamed butternut squash. Then I balanced the texture with a lacy cheese topping by pan-frying slices of sharp Cheddar cheese. It was literally easy as pie.

I haven't never taken baby Aria to a pumpkin patch yet. I'm planning on taking her soon. I'm sure she will enjoy the scent of fresh straw and the endless plot of pumpkins. I wonder what type of pumpkin she will select. We'll probably pick many so we can turn them into delicious fresh pies, pancakes and sweet bread for the upcoming holidays. In the meantime, I've gathered a list of savory dishes flavored with the deep-orange squash plant. I hope you will find plenty of inspiration in this post.

I hope Aria has a lot of fun. I heard our local pumpkin patch has an inflatable bounce house and slide; that alone will probably amaze her. Even though the weather seems very warm these days in the Bay Area, summer is gone and fall is definitely in the air.